Thursday, November 06, 2008

James Reasoner

James Reasoner is a fine writer and a fine guy. The Tainted Archive interviewed him the other day following James' annoucement that h'ed just finished book number 225. His recent noir novel Dust Devils ranks among the best crime novels of the past few years.

"JAMES REASONER - HOW THE WEST WAS WROTE


James Reasoner is a highly regarded western writer - his books are tightly plotted with realistic characters and engaging plots. His writing style is pacey and the author is always sure to satisfy anyone looking for a well written western novel to pass away a few hours. As well as westerns he's done crime, thrillers and historical fiction. In fact he's currently responsible for 227 books but that number will probably increase before you've finished this article.


He has written under many different names and you may have read him without realising it - I did - I loved Elmer Kelton's Sons of Texas series and I later discovered James wrote the sixth book in the series, Defiant. Chances are you may have a western lurking in the collection written by Reasoner.

He is a man of many names. A true modern version of the pulp writer.

That's not to say Reasoner's work is light weight - far from it. Everything he writes is the result of a consummate professional at work and he has gained many gleaming critical reviews. He has written at least a couple of crime classics - Dust Devils is amazingly good and stuck around in my mind for weeks after reading and his early crime novel, Texas Wind enjoys cult status with paperback collectors. However for this feature it is his westerns of which we are primarily concerned - His recent series of Deadwood novels, not based on the stunning TV series but on the actual history of the illegal town, are excellent semi-fictions that add more flesh to the characters we've come to know from the TV series. "

for the rest go here:
http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/2008/11/james-reasoner-how-west-was-wrote.html

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